Rowena began painting at age of twenty-three due to her restlessness as a military wife, but it wasn't long before her painting evolved from a part-time avocation to a full-time occupation. In the course of the next ten years she brought together her diverse experience, vivid imagination, inspiration and talent and developed the style and technique for which she is now so well known.

Since 1975 has lived and worked in New York and has become a celebrity to science fiction fans, artists and art students. Aside from illustrating book covers for more than a dozen publishers in both the United States and Europe, she has participated in gallery and museum exhibitions throughout the country, and her work is found in important private and museum collections worldwide.